When I’m working on bitmap or photographs or even when working on exotic web formats like PNG and SVG graphics my GOTO is Gimp.

I
got introduced to gimp trough using Linux as operating system and i got
used to its interface, its very basic user interface might not be
appealing but in functionality it can be compared to Photoshop.
Unfortunately, some of the icons, like the one for the crop tool
shown, are different from the ones used by Photoshop, so finding your
tools back may take some hunting.

Help me!!1

If you can’t get used to the interface and want to get back to something more similar in look and feel, try installing the doctormo photoshop tweaks.

To install the pack, you can simply replace the existing GIMP folder on your computer, which is located in:

Once you done replacing the GIMP folder, restart your GIMP and voila, your back at a similar interface layout as in Adobe CS6.

Better?

There are some functions it actually excels at especially in the webgraphics department such as SVG. And together with some of the GEGL (Generic Graphics Library) scripts its perfect in performing automations in Gimp. Those scripts are one of the best features of GIMP, making it an open platform for image processing developers. While Photoshop can be scripted, most image transforms are either “black box” plug-ins or actual built-in commands Gimp is more open and can be customized more thoroughly.

Why Open-source,

There is a lot of software on the market for editing photos and a lot of media related software in general. The main reason for using the software I use is price, in a commercial assignment its not uncommon that the client will want stuff fast, Price isn’t an issue then and I can charge the software subscription to the client so when speed is an issue I will use exclusive suites like Creative Cloud or similar “expensive” products to save manual labour.

In my opinion, paid software is worth its money if it takes away manual labour or saves time though smart algorithms or automation of bulk adjustments.

But when I consider that I can charge the licence fees (80-100 euros per assignment) to save two hours or do

two hours of manual labor or, then I’ll choose the manual labor. It might be easier working on a single job or small assignments with expensive software but it will not outweigh the cost because you’re not really saving a lot of time. Plus you will never develop any real skills in the area of expertise because you are letting fancy tools do the brainy part of the job.

So now that I clarified why I work like I do, here’s what I generally use. To make it understandable I’ll give a list with the alternative software next to it.

Tasktype

Photo Compositing

Photo Adjustment (RAW)

Vector Drawing

Desktop Publishing

Video Montage

Motion Graphics

3D / Video Compositing

Drawing / Infinite Canvas

Subscription based

Photoshop

Lightroom

Illustrator

Indesign

Premiere

After effects

Nuke

Illustrator

Closed Source

Affinity

Affinity

Affinity Designer

Affinity Publisher / Quarkxpress

Final Cut / DaVinci Resolve

Motion

Fusion

Misschief

Open source donation

GIMP

Raw Therapee / Darktable

Inkscape

Scribus

Cinerella / Kdenlive / Blender

Natron / Blender

Natron

Krita

*Subscription is where you pay an annual or a monthly fee for the usage of the service.*Licenced is a single purchase for the permanent usage of the software.*Open-source a freely distributed program without additional charges or costs.

Free Marketing

All the software I have used in a professional environment, e.q. have been paid to work with for at least a single assignment.

Because there is a lot more budget for a commercial software developer then there is for an open-source variant. But don’t be fooled by cheap tricks from expensive marketing departments at Adobe because the alternatives are sometimes better but at least equally capable of handling the task.

I’ll not take the effort to explain software that is either licenced or on a subscription base, they have the marketing teams to do that themselves.

Honourable mentions go to Affinity for making an affordable alternative to the basic Adobe DTP suite (e.g. Photoshop/Illustrator/Indesign).And Nuke for having the most excellent non-commercial licence to learn.

But if you are on a low budget or no budget you should be able to produce industry-standard visuals as well. Here is where all those nice free alternatives come in.

As we progressed through the ages we have increased the size of our family progressively with it.

When we where just crawling out of our caves we had just the relation of our kin, as we hopped into the middle ages brotherhood extended though language and then religion crossing the borders of countrys and overlapping brotherhoods and family ties.

Now as we enter the digital age we expand our family once more crossing old borders like lines in the sand. The internet has brought us together yet it has distanced us from our first circles of familiarity, our kin. As the people before us had the responsibility, whether it be for a higher cause or personal gain to educate us about the rule in the family, our fathers and mothers, political leaders, country leaders and finally religious leaders have always been there to hold our hand while we navigate the extends of our family’s/brotherhoods. Now with the digital age we are the new gurus and in my humble opinion we have an obligation to guide the next generation in the use and responsibility’s of the internet. What can we say what can we do how do we interpreted the information and how do we use it to the fullest of its potential without hurting the interests of other party’s within this great internet circle.

There should be more room for controversial voices on the internet not because they have the right to advertise or becuaseof freedom of speach or something but because we as a family should be aware of what conspires within our community.This wil give people peace of mind and we have the opportunity to discus and advice on mediation or consessions to realize our mutual benificiary goals, this is our latest but not last solution how we could help this world keep his or her way.